Shkodër, 23 April 2022 – CRCA/ECPAT Albania has started a chain of training courses and information sessions for journalists and news reporters on how to report on cases of sexual violence and exploitation against children. Today the training session was held in Shkodra for journalists and reporters coming from the North of Albania, cities like Shkodër, Lezhë and Malësi e Madhe.
Never before had the Albanian journalists received a training on how to report cases of child sexual abuse and exploitation. Reports on the cases of sexual violence and exploitation against children in Albania, and the widespread use of online social network platforms from sexual predators, have become an increasing concern for the victims, their families, and the public opinion.
In cooperation with the Minister of State for Children and Youth and the National State Agency for the Rights and Protection of Children, CRCA/ECPAT Albania training of journalists and reporters, working for the mainstream and online media, is focused on achieving a better and ethical reporting that protects the identity of the victim and their family.
Currently media reports provide numerous details that identify the child victim of violence or sexual exploitation. In some cases, journalists have gone at length to interview the victims and their families, right after the report made to the police or the authorities.
The training sessions are part of the larger CRCA/ECPAT Albania initiative “Media for the Rights of the Child”, supported by the regional project “Confrontation”, funded by the European Union and implemented in Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo, Northern Macedonia, Serbia and Turkey.
Albania recently has been gripped by cases of child sexual violence and exploitation. According to the BECAN report, at least 1 and 10 children in Albania are victims of sexual violence.
For more information, please contact:
CRCA/ECPAT Albania
crca@crca.al